![]() ![]() My dad died of a heart attack shortly after I graduated from college. The second one deprived his brain of oxygen for so long he didn’t survive. The thing is, I already knew of two people who had long-term high blood pressure – and after years of treatments both died of complications caused by the condition. I wasn’t the only one with high blood pressure I wasn’t really – I was just becoming increasingly scared. She thought I was questioning her knowledge. I wanted to know what else I could do – that wouldn’t bring on any new side-effects. Everything I could possibly do to help myself, I did it. I’d already made drastic changes to my diet: no salt, plenty of vegetables, whole foods. I wanted to talk about some other, non-drug possibilities for handling my blood pressure condition. The longer my blood pressure was this high, the greater the risks to my life. The arguments begin…Īfter a two-year struggle to get the upper hand over this darned condition I came into a little conflict with my doctor. Which, she cheerfully informed me, would probably be for the rest of my life. I could expect to experience them for as long as I took the meds. I hated it.īut my doctor assured me that meds will always create side-effects. Unhappiness that seemed to have no real cause. Yet now I experienced worries I couldn’t explain. ![]() I’ve always been a happy, cheerful person. Perhaps most upsetting were the feelings of anxiety I began experiencing. Some very bad stomach problems – if you know what I mean. The meds came with side-effects: regular, nagging headaches. And it looked like it was going to stay high. It had stabilized – although my doctor suspected it would have done that anyway. Still, my blood pressure continued to rise until, finally, it flattened out. My average blood pressure readings actually rose slightly in the two or three months after diagnosis. Standard drug remedies proved ineffective.ĭiuretics achieved nothing. I straightened out my blood pressure by simpler means. My blood pressure has been well within safe levels for 16 months straight.īut the key to my consistently healthy blood pressure was nothing that my doctor did for me. Which meant my health – my life – was at risk. ![]() I went through a range of medications – and they did all sorts of things to me.īut the bottom line was that my blood pressure remained much too high. Because they mostly came with side-effects. She told me what could go wrong with the treatments. My physician explained how many different treatments we might have to try in order to save me from the worst cases. The illnesses that follow high blood pressure include paralysis – by stroke – or death by heart disease. The diagnosis of high blood pressure was followed by bad news, more bad news – and yet more bad news. Which, you’ll probably know, is life-threateningly high. No problems here! I’m as fit as a fiddle.įour years ago I was the anxious owner of a regular 160/110 blood pressure score – one that occasionally hit 210/140. Which – if you know anything about blood pressure readings – has me very, very safely inside the healthy blood pressure range. Just about average for my blood pressure over the last 16 months. So, I have just unstrapped my blood pressure monitor – and the reading is 100/70. ![]()
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